When we decided to go ahead with IVF at our last appointment, the doctor gave us a rundown about the whole process, but I did not learn anything new that I had read about already. Of course, I had done some research on top google hits about the process in general. I have also been following a few blogs about ladies going through IVF themselves. But I will be honest…I have not really stepped up to my usual level of research. Probably because I thought I had plenty of time before we start this. Also I’ve been keeping myself busy the last couple of weeks, both at work and at play. Next week we have our first appointment with our nurse, so I want to make sure I ask all the right question from the outset. And so, the time has come! I feel like I have a big gaping hole in my knowledge and I need to fill it…stat!!
When I first started following blogs I was put off following IVF blogs that were overly acronym-ised and had lots of numbers on it. Without any reference, it felt like gobbley-de-gook to me. In fact it was (and still is) terrifying. I am sure it will all make sense soon, but for now I am following a select few who make it easy to read for newbies (thank you for that by the way!). But where do I start my research?
Areas I would like to better understand:
- Medication for IVF
- Embryology
- Ethics
- ICSI
- Complimentary Therapies
- The statistics low down! Because I just can’t help myself being an analyst by trade, I’ve got to know!
Do you have any good suggestions for books or websites that you have found helpful with your IVF journey?
The Great Pudding Club Hunt 
I’m not sure I have anything to offer that is helpful about online research. Everything we learned about IVF came from our doctor/nurse. Our fertility center makes everyone take an IVF class before beginning a cycle, which was very helpful. The class went over the cycle step-by-step and included information about medication, ICSI, statistics, etc. We also met one-on-one with an embryologist to answer all our questions. They gave us a lot of paperwork during the class. I wonder if your doctor has pamphlets they can give you. If not, I would be happy to scan and email you everything they gave us. I still have it all. I would also be happy to answer any questions about stimulation, egg retrieval, ICSI, transfer, PGD, etc. if you would like to know anything about our specific experience.
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Oh wow, a fertility class sounds like a really good idea! We were given a 7 page document that tells us about the process and the risks, but this is a document we have to sign to say we understand what we are doing…it’s pretty generic. We should find out more on Tuesday after we meet with our nurse, but I’m pretty sure our clinic doesn’t offer something like a class. It is very kind of you to offering your info, thank you so much 🙂
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I remember having the same questions! The success rates are easiest found with national statistics.
https://www.sartcorsonline.com/rptCSR_PublicMultYear.aspx?ClinicPKID=0
You can look up individual statistics on things like success rates with male factor infertility, success rates with ICSI, etc.
There are also clinic-specific success rates. My clinic posts a link to their stats on their website, as most clinics do. There’s also an explanation of the date, which helped me as well: -http://www.shadygrovefertility.com/success_rates
I am similar to you, and I remember looking a lot of this up. Many, many journals (found via pubmed.com) ranged from very helpful to not helpful at all. I was specifically interested in the Day 3 vs. Day 5 transfer – and why Day 5 was being recommended for me. The doctor explained it in layman’s terms, but I wanted a more technical explanation. Which is here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4229795/
Also, no shame, I used wikipedia for random questions quite a bit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation
There’s a study I read on acupuncture, mostly because I didn’t WANT acupuncture ( I am not really a “holistic medicine” believer to begin with, and I hate, hate, needles) but it was discussed as something that could help with the IVF process. The study basically showed a correlation between successful IVF cycles and acupuncture when it studied women who have had a failed IVF before. However, there was no such correlation between acupuncture and women trying for the first time.
I never bought a book on the subject because we jumped into IVF pretty quickly. However, this book was recommended:
good luck with everything!
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Thank you so much!!! The lnks are interesting, especially wikipedia as it has so many other links from it, it’s a brilliant place for me to start researching from this afternoon.
I have a bit of a needle phobia too so I can’t ever imagine acupuncture being a relaxing thing for me!! Interesting though about it having no correlation with the first try.
I thought I’d give the book ago, it’s got some very good reviews, so I’ve ordered it from Amazon, along with the one 30 yr old nothing also suggested ‘it starts with an egg’! I think I will have a bit of reading to do next week!!
Thank you again for taking the time to write all this down 🙂
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I’m sure people will mention the book “it starts with an egg” that talks about egg health and is very informative. You can go here to see ivf success rates by state (http://www.sart.org/find_frm.html) for the statistics. I trolled random forums for information on ICSI and medication. I wrote a post about the meds I was on. I got the info from web md mostly (http://talesofa30yroldnothing.com/2014/10/27/shots-fired/). There are ttc support groups on instagram and FB where I got all my information. And here too of course, in blog world. As far as complimentary therapies, acupuncture is the best and my friend in the UK just sent me a zita west relaxation cd. If you just spend enough time googling, all the information is right there at your fingertips. If you’re obsessive like me, you’ll feel like a pro by the time you take your first injection. Hope this helps!
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Hehe! Thank you so much for this! I took a look at the ‘it starts with an egg’ book, very interesting stuff, I hadn’t come across this idea before, so I went and bought it from Amazon along with ‘IVF A patients guide’…much reading to be done next week! Right…on to my googling mission.
Thank you again for taking the time to write this, I really appreciate it 🙂
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My two cents on alternate/ complimentary therapies https://barrenbudbloom.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/complimentary-alternate-therapies-with-fertility-treatments/
I really like my India doctors website- http://www.drmalpani.com/ wealth of information
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Thank you for the links 🙂 Especially your blog post on complimentary therapies.
There was an interesting article on Dr Malpani’s page about gynaes reducing your infertility (http://www.drmalpani.com/knowledge-center/articles/gynecologist-and-infertility). I count myself lucky I went straight to a fertility specialist at a research school so I feel confident they are upto date and read so many posts from women who go through their gynaes for months and months who have no clue.
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